Before It Started
Underneath a now forgotten city, lay a giant laboratory were young mages with extraordinary potential are experimented on and trained on a daily basis. Each and every mage was tested in the most cruelest way possible living their lives not knowing if they will live to see the next day. An uproar of despair and agony filled the halls and as usual. Today was no exception. but today, no one had any idea things would begin to take a turn for the worse. Zero had no idea his life would begin to take a turn for the worse. Business like usual, Zero was sparring with the one person he could rely on, the one person he called brother, Kasai. Fighting it out testing their abilities as they were so trained to do. Loud explosions as well as the shaking of the facility erupted every time these two were together. A magnificent display of fire magic was unfolding before the eyes of their captors and spectators. Spell after spell roaring loudly, breaking the concentration of the many others tasked with training. "Come on Zero, is that all you got? Mad Gun is gonna punish you again." yelled Kasai confidently as he was evading all Zero could muster. Mad Gun was the nickname Zero and Kasai had given their instructor, do to his short temper and extreme disciplinary tactics. He would viciously beat all who didn't follow his instructions or live up to his expectations. Unfortunately even killing those he thought would become a nuisance and not grow to the needed standards he set upon his subjects. His hands were soaked with the blood of many. "Shut up! Shut up! Shut up!....Let me hit you!" yelled an annoyed Zero as he was chasing down Kasai all over the room, shooting of multiple spells at once hoping to land a hit on the ever elusive Kasai. Zero's rage increasing the potency of his flames gradually, but to no avail, none of his spells hit the mark. Just when Zero thought he had finally caught Kasai and was finally gonna land a solid hit, a blur passed from behind him to only appear right beside him, with only a few moments later Zero cried out in agony while spitting out a moderate amount of blood. Mad Gun had stepped in and drove his fist into the gut of Zero, not only drawing quite a bit of blood, but he followed the punch by slapping Zero across the face with the back of his hand sending Zero barreling through the ground quite a distance. Zero lost consciousness for a second but was able to snap out of it and regain his composure stopping himself from rolling straight to the protruding spikes from the walls that surrounded them. Zero slowly stood up straight and wiped the seeping blood from his mouth, starring viciously at Mad Gun. "Wipe that expression from your face" yelled Mad Gun with and expression of pure hatred. While snapping his fingers numerous times, causing jolts of lighting to engulf Zero with every snap. Though Zero this time did not yell in pain nor did he even flinch. He stood tall never releasing his gaze from the person in front of him, glaring with pure hatred and using that hatred to stay standing. Though unfortunately, Zero had lost consciousness around the third jolt. Though his expression stayed unchanged, his eyes said other wise. No real vigor, no life shun from them like they usually do, just a blank stare. An empty vessel with a maddened expression.Kasai could do nothing but watch as previous experiences installed the fear of revolting against his superiors. Zero was jolted fifteen times before Mad Gun got bored and ordered Kasai to take the battered Zero to his room. Though just barely, Zero remained alive. {Earlier That Day} "Yes. Kasai is the best candidate for Experiment Zero." claimed Mad Gun to numerous mages sitting around a large table in a large room as they discussed the progress of the various experiments being carried out. Many of the mages voiced their opinions in agreement with Mad Gun, but one particular person jeered at the remark. That person being one of King's elite underlings Mia. Who at this point was pretending to be their nefarious leader King. "You know perfectly well I have already chosen the candidate." Mia remarked as seconds later she appeared on top of the table in front of Mad Gun. His eyes opened wide as a shocked and terrified expression overcame his face. This do to the fact a purple coated sword was piercing the surface of his neck , while he gazed upon a sickening grin plastered on the face of Mia. "Now! can you remind me who that was?" Mia spoke awaiting his answer. While Mad Gun was about to speak, Mia moved her sword back only to jam it into the shoulder of Mad Gun. The wound caused a moderate amount of blood to rush out. "You know I don't like to repeat myself. So why am I repeating myself?" Everyone else lay silent and in fact the room took an eerie silence only broken by the constant droplets of blood hitting the floor. Mia grinning even more as every second that passed, she moved her sword slightly, aggravating the wound further. Though this time Mad Gun knew better then to move or say a word."That's a good boy." Mia sneered as she retracted her sword. Though she quickly took the flat end of the tip, coated with blood and wiped a small part of it with her cheek letting the blood drip down the side of her face. Moments later a small magic circle appeared under the hilt of the sword, which caused the blade to become covered in ice. Mia then placed the tip of her sword on the table she now stood upon, causing ice to form where the blade touched the table. Seconds later she did a small swiping motion towards the other end of the table causing the table to freeze from the origin of the touch toward the end of the table, where ice steps were now formed. Connecting the table to the floor. Mia began to walk towards the ice steps nonchalantly, slowly descending the steps and making her way out the door, though before completely exciting, she turned around and pointed her sword towards Mad Gun, then quickly jostled her blade upward, which caused the ice formed on the table to extend numerous ice needles that pierced the heads of everyone sitting on the table, with the exception of Mad Gun. Mia smiled kindly and said "good luck" then walked out of the room. Mad Gun looked around the room furious seeing his comrades killed before his eyes. "''I will end that bitch! I will end them all!" ''he thought to himself, trying to calm himself down. Standing abruptly and then heading towards the door. Test of Humanity Zero finally awoke after a few hours in a mad scream yelling "I'll kill you! I'll kill you!" over and over again. Kasai did his best to restrain Zero as he had stayed by his side the whole time he was unconscious. Holding Zero to the best of his abilities, unfortunately Zero's flames had also erupted with anger burning Kasai as he held him, though thankfully Zero snapped from his rage and calmed himself enough to quell his flames. Seeing Kasai holding him while badly burned,Zero began to apologize, but Kasai interrupted and started to apologize first."I'm sorry, I'm so sorry." he continued as streams of tears flooded his face."I...I..I froze. I couldn't move. For a moment I thought of only myself, thinking I didn't want to die." he slowly looked up at an angry Zero, who quickly headbutted Kasai on his forehead, yelling out "You Idiot! What good does it do us if we both die!" At this point Zero's rage was completely gone having been completely annulled by Kasai's presence. Showing a giant smile towards the one he could call family. "But.. but, if it was you?" said Kasai as he was quickly interrupted by Zero who simply said "I'm allowed to be an idiot" Despite their troubles this day, they ended up having a decent sleep that allowed their magic and stamina to return. Unfortunately, Mad Gun's anger had not subsided as he quickly called Zero and Kasai to one of the training rooms when morning broke. "Today! You will have a test unlike anything you have experienced before. Today! You have a chance to earn your freedom!" Mad gun explained to a room of ten young mages, who were the top ranked within the experiments. Two of which were Kasai and Zero. It seemed the news caused an uproar within the room, though Kasai and Zero knew better than to get their hopes up. They knew he had a sinister plan involved that would most surely test their own life's. Unfortunately they were correct. " This will be a two part test that will test your abilities to the fullest. Each and everyone of you will fight each other to the death. The last one standing will get a chance to be set free....Oh. participation is mandatory. Any who refuse will be put to death." Mad gun announced with a sickening grin on his face, showing the great pleasure he took in playing with people's lives.